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Week 1 Intro To OH
Week 1 Intro To OH
ModuleLeader: AmyBrandreth
MyBeckett
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Assessment
• Two parts:
• Written assignment due 1pm 16th March 2023
• Presentation in exam weeks (wc 8th and 15th May 2023)
• Presentation
• Level 5 – Individual 10 minutes
• Level 7 – Group 10 minutes
(HSE, n.d.)
Aviva – Health of the Workplace (2020)
• 92% of respondents reported a mental health symptom
• 41% said work was the most negative aspect of life in terms of
impact on mental health
• 71% reported stress
• 65% reported trouble sleeping
• 58% reported mood swings
• 55% reported back or neck ache
• 51% reported trouble coping mentally
• 49% reported anxiety/palpitations
Aviva – Health of the Workplace (2020)
• Where do people go for support?
• Many will speak with family and friends
• 12% would speak to a work colleague
• Less than 10% would speak to a line manager
• 4% would speak to HR
CIPD, 2019)
Why is good work good for health?
• is therapeutic;
• helps to promote recovery and rehabilitation;
• leads to better health outcomes;
• minimises the harmful physical, mental and social effects of
long-term sickness absence;
• reduces the risk of long-term incapacity;
• promotes full participation in society, independence and human
rights;
• reduces poverty;
• improves quality of life and well-being.
Occupational Health
• Represents a dynamic equilibrium between the worker his
physical and mental health and his place of work and
occupational environment
What are the top 5 Employee Concerns?
Stressful working life 26%
(CIPD, 2019)
How do you think work used to be?
• Plenty of work for the unskilled
• 8 to 18 hour days
• 5 – 6 days a week
• 52 weeks a year
• Seasonal sporadic workers discarded when ill
• Workers had no pensions
• Workers had no health provision
HSE Work Health Indicators
Common health conditions Long term latent conditions
Asbestos related
STRESS disease CANCERS
• Sick pay
• Overtime
• Agency staff
• Company reputation
• Compensation/court cases
• Moral reasons?
What are the Objectives of OH?
• To maintain and promote the physical well being of workers
• To prevent instances of occupational ill health and disease
• To adapt the workplace and work environment to the needs of
the workers i.e. application of ergonomic principles
• Measures being Preventative not Curative
What are the benefits of a Good OH strategy?
Statistics
Toxicology
Epidemiology
OH
Psychology Rehabilitative Science
Ergonomics
What is epidemiology?
• Epidemiology
• Primarily concerned with the statistical relationships between
disease agents, both infectious and non-infectious; for example a
study to establish the relative risk of lung cancer associated with
smoking
Epidemiology
• Dr. John Snow (1813-1858),
• Physicians believed that cholera was caused
by “miasmas”
• Snow began examining sick patients
• First symptoms were digestive not
respiratory
• Determined that thirty-eight deaths from
same source
• Broad Street water pump was the cause
proven after his death
The Tools of OH
• Statistics
• A branch of mathematics
that deals with the analysis
and interpretation of
numerical data in terms of
samples and populations
• Collections of numerical
data for manipulation
The Tools of OH
• Toxicology
• The scientific study of
poisons, especially their
effects on the body and
their antidotes
The Tools of OH
• Ergonomics
• The study of how a workplace and the equipment used there
can best be designed for comfort, safety, efficiency, and
productivity
• Those factors or qualities in the design of something, especially
a workplace or equipment used by people at work, that
contribute to comfort, safety, efficiency, and ease of use
• Sometimes called human engineering and human factors
The Tools of
OH
• Rehabilitation
• To help somebody
to return to good
health or a normal
life by providing
training or therapy
The Tools of OH
• Psychology
• The scientific study of the human mind
and mental states, and of human and
animal behaviour
• The characteristic temperament and
associated behaviour of an individual or
group, or that exhibited by those
engaged in a particular activity
• Subtle clever actions and words used to
influence a person or group
What is occupational health care
• Occupational health care is:
• Preventative care provided to achieve well being
• Objective is a safe healthy working environment
• Prevention of work related disease
• Maintenance of workers well being working ability
and functional ability
• Promotion of worker health
Work Life Relationships
• It may be fair to say that “For most of the human race
work is boring, repetitive and unfulfilling. One of the
challenges of the occupational team is how to change
that”
How do you think work used to be?
• Plenty of work for the unskilled
• 8 to 18 hour days
• 5 – 6 days a week
• 52 weeks a year
• Seasonal sporadic workers discarded when ill
• Workers had no pensions
• Workers had no health provision
How work used to be
• In this model the worker was used very much as an
animal, exploited for low wages and discarded when
no longer able to do his task. In some ways he was
worse off than a slave whose master had some
incentive to clothe, feed and care for him to
maximise his productivity.
What is occupational health care
• Is it limited to?
• Any undertaking which may involve:-
• Repetitive working
• Exposure to physical agents
• Exposure to chemicals or toxic substances
• Exposure to mental stresses
What activities should the OH Unit undertake?
• Pre-employment medicals
• First aid in some workplaces
• Advice on work environment in respect of dangerous or
toxic chemicals
• Specific periodic monitoring of health
• Health education training/information
• Protecting health of all workers
• Alcohol and Drug testing
What activities should the OH Unit undertake?
• Provision of advice to employers for specific workers i.e.
Adjustments – return to work medical screening
• Monitoring of work places
• Liaison and co-operation with employees and safety
representatives
• Keeping of medical records
• Carrying out parallel activities for the promotion of workers
health and well being
Factors Affecting the OH Unit
• Nature of industry size of organisation
• Existing infrastructure of occupational health provision
• Trained manpower
• Employers commitment worker involvement
• Accessibility of information
• Surveillance of occupational health by epidemiological
information
• Current knowledge
Summary